'Pupils of Apelles' at Copro Gallery: One Cult, Two Masters

December 4, 2014 3:52 AM

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Pupils of Apelles, a four person exhibition now on view at Copro Gallery through this Saturday, December 6th, is about reaching far back in time for inspiration and connection. Although the Norwegian artist and mentor Odd Nerdum appears in the largest font on the show's roster, it is the 4th century Greek artist Apelles of Kos who is presented as the presiding master of its cult.

The invoking of Apelles may strike some as a kind of smokescreen, as show's star attraction is Nerdrum, an aesthetic refusenik who once painted himself in a custom-sewn golden robe as The Savior of Painting. Whatever you may think of Nerdrum's art -- and his ego -- you have to grant him this: no liv...